Sunday, November 11, 2012

bloggers have the greatest ideas...

Ana and Iris have come up with quite the lovely idea for January. All those books that you're so incredibly eager to read but that just somehow get pushed aside for any number of reasons--well, they've declared that January will be a month to focus on those neglected-through-no-fault-of-their-own books. And in their posts, Ana and Iris have invited all interested parties to join in along. And yes, I am definitely an interested party!

Sometimes I look at my shelves and want to weep over all the books that I'm dying to read but just never seem to make time for, for any of a multitude of reasons. So it's no surprise that this idea has me very excited. In fact, it has me so excited that I'm tempted to extend this beyond January. (But I suppose I ought to wait and see how I do with one month first before setting that in stone.)

Anyway, as I read about their idea, a plethora of books immediately jumped to mind. And I literally laughed aloud when I realized that nearly all of them were books that were on my shelves in the first place because of Ana. :) So for my own personal twist, I'm going to focus on my Long-Awaited Reads Because of Ana. I have no fear that there won't be something to fit any possible mood I might be in on a particular day, because Ana has me eager to read such an enormous variety of books that lack of choice shall *never* be a problem! I'm not actually going to make a set list of books I must get to, but just because it's ever-so-fun to make lists of books, here are some that definitely qualify for me:

*Singled Out by Virginia Nicholson
*Virgin by Hanne Blank
*Global Women edited by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild
*The Influencing Maching by Brook Gladstone
*Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
*What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool
*Woman by Natalie Angier
*The Unwritten by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
*Skellig by David Almond
*Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
*The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
*The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
*The 10PM Question by Kate di Goldi
*The Love We Share Without Knowing by Christopher Barzak
*Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
*Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland
*Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
*Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones
*The Bromeliad Trilogy by Terry Pratchett
*I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
*The Secret History by Donna Tartt
*Saplings by Noel Streatfield
*From Hell by Alan Moore
*The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

Okay, I've got to stop. This list would probably be 10x as long if I listed every book that Ana has me dying to read. No exaggeration! And sheesh...I would be willing to bet that some of them have been on my shelves for over five years. So, yes, I'm going to say it again, this is such a wonderful idea!!!

(The one exception I must make is the school stuff, of course.)

8 comments:

Ana S. said...

Wheeeeeee :D Fingers crossed that this results in a wonderful reading month for you! Part of me always worries that people will hate my recommendations, but some of those I'm just SURE you're going to love.

Keshalyi said...

*gasps* The Night Watch is HEARTBREAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL. Really! I so hope you read it, because I think you would love it.

Kailana said...

Oh, this is fun! I missed about it entirely!

chrisa511 said...

Oh. My. God. This is an amazing idea!!!! Of course it is! Ana and Iris came up with it!! I'm so excited about this!!! I so want to go make my own stack right now too!!! I can assure you you'll love Perks of Being a Walflower and Hey Nostradamus..both amazing books!

Care said...

My list would have Beloved and The Gargoyle and.. all the books I brought home from BEA - what was that way back in 2010?!?

Debi said...

Ana,
I understand that worry completely, but in my case I think you can just let it go. It's not to say you never (because never is such a huge word) read books that probably wouldn't do it for me. But you write such awesome reviews that I think I can generally tell that would be the case in those rare instances. There is no one in the world, not even Rich, whose recommendations I trust so implicitly...and when it comes to music as well as books!

Jason,
Oh my gosh, I'm so happy to hear you read it and loved it! I really want to read all of Waters books, but for some reason I don't even know myself, that is the one I'm dying to read most.

Kelly,
Are you going to do it too? *hoping so*

Chris,
Isn't it though?!! I'm so excited about it!!! I really want to start pulling books from the shelves and making big piles, but at the same time I don't want to mess up the house when I'm trying to super-clean for Christmas decorating. I have a feeling it will be one of the first things I do the day after Christmas though. :P

Care,
Oooh, you just reminded me that Toni Morrison's Love really needs to be in my pile, too! So are you going to join in????

Care said...

Yea but I haven't made it official. Actually, I will and shall because I need a post idea.(I am not going to make it, my resolve is already fading on blogging every day...)

Susan said...

What a lovely list of books! I"m happy to say I've read some, and they are all worth reading - Fire and Hemlock, I Capture the Castle ( you really have to read this one, Debi! delightful and sweet!), Case Histories (I am really enjoying this series, this is book one, and very good), Skellig (beautiful). I also want to read some of the ones ou have on the list too - The Perks of Being a Wallflower, What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew (and I've owned this for over 10 years now!), Cold Comfort Farm.....I'm joining this challenge too, it's perfect for January, isn't it?